-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- For nine seasons , Rainn Wilson delighted audiences worldwide as the eccentric but lovable Dwight Schrute on NBC 's `` The Office . '' Wilson 's performance earned him a place in American pop culture history . But in his work off screen , Wilson is building an entirely different legacy .

`` When I started getting well known as an actor on ` The Office , ' I got inundated by requests to be a spokesperson for various charities . And I had an opportunity , I thought , for me to explore what was most important to me in my heart , and what I felt could make the greatest impact in the world , '' Wilson says .

Wilson then found the perfect match . The Mona Foundation , based in Wilson 's hometown of Seattle , supports grass-roots educational organizations both internationally and in the United States .

`` They support about 20 different schools and educational initiatives in about 15 different countries , and the more I learned about them , the more I loved . They target women and girls , and that 's how you transform a community , '' says Wilson .

A major difference from other organizations , Wilson points out , is that the Mona Foundation finds programs that already exist and are working but underfunded . It is then able to bring in the support to improve the program and build a foundation for long-term success . Wilson says this ensures that the community will get what it really needs and can sustain . It empowers members of the community to take control and move in a positive direction .

Working with the Mona Foundation is a family affair for Wilson . It 's a project to which he and his wife , Holiday Reinhorn , are both fully committed . They visit the schools under the Mona Foundation umbrella frequently and sometimes bring along their son . Wilson and Reinhorn have visited the Mona Foundation schools in Haiti a handful of times -- both before and after the devastating earthquake in 2010 .

`` One of the things my wife and I do together is we teach arts workshops for adolescent girls . They 're the most at-risk population in Haiti and through most of the developing world : teenage girls , preteen girls . Targeting them to empower them and educate them is really the most crucial thing . We do arts and leadership workshops with them , '' Wilson continues .

`` We 're sponsoring some girls and giving them scholarships to get jobs training and English training . English training is very important , because it leads to jobs . It 's not like a Western egotism thing , like oh , you should learn to speak American . It really is -- if you learn to speak fluent English , you can get a job as a translator or in a hotel or a restaurant or for an NGO or for any number of different places . It 's actually a very important skill set to have . So , I love weaving the arts in with leadership , helping give these girls a voice . ''

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Star of `` The Office '' Rainn Wilson supports The Mona Foundation

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The foundation focuses on empowering young women and girls through education

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It has programs both internationally and in the United States

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His wife and son accompany Wilson on visits to Mona Foundation schools